Heidi immediately felt the blood drain from her face in response to those words.
Freya continued, a bitter smile just barely touching her lips. “But I’m making an effort to not be so selfish, trying to do things the right way. So, I’ll give you some time to think about that – to consider it from my perspective. And then maybe we’ll try talking again in a few weeks after you’ve had time to mull it over. Sound good?”
Heidi felt like she was going to pass out. Her heart was racing again.
“B-But, I thought of a few compromises too,” she exclaimed breathlessly.
“You thought of things you knew I wouldn’t agree to,” Freya corrected her.
“I want you to agree to them!” Heidi countered, taking a step back.
Freya’s full lips formed into a flat line. “Well, as I said, I’ll give you some time to reconsider your position. I’m used to just taking whatever I want, but I’m trying really hard to be nice,” she repeated.
“This is you being nice?” Heidi replied in disbelief. “It doesn’t sound like you’re going to give me a choice either way.”
“Smart,” Freya praised her. “So take some time to make yourself comfortable with the idea. I don’t want to have to resort to blackmail, and we both know there’s a little something you don’t want to live without.”
Heidi reached for the counter behind her, desperate to support her weight. “You wouldn’t,” she said breathlessly.
Freya shrugged while lifting her hands in the air. “Let’s just choose not to let your stubbornness drag us to that point. Sound fair?”
Heidi didn’t move a muscle, neither shaking her head nor nodding. Her eyes were beginning to sting.
Freya sighed heavily. “You realize your biggest problem is just your mindset, right? This wouldn’t feel like a threat if you’d just reconsider how you think about it.”
“Can you really blame me?!” Heidi choked out, almost sounding angry. “I was nothing more than a tool for three years! And the only reason it wasn’t worse for me is because I was useful as a tool! Because I can do something no one else can!” She sobbed, lowering her voice. “Other than my sister, no one has viewed me as a person since I was seventeen. Not even you.”
Freya abruptly closed the gap between them and carefully wrapped her arms around Heidi, pressing her gently into the counter. She then rubbed Heidi’s back soothingly while tightening her embrace. Heidi didn’t shy away from the comfort, knowing it was sincere even despite the obvious threats Freya had just made. Heidi owed her a lot and knew Freya had been nothing but nice and caring towards her, but Heidi still couldn’t change her mind about the situation.
After a moment, Freya took a deep breath like she was going to speak, only to pause and glance over her shoulder.
Heidi freed her arm to wipe her eyes, wondering if Freya had heard something her ears couldn’t.
Unexpectedly, Rose appeared around the corner, her expression full of concern. “Mommy, please don’t be mean to Heidi. She’s my best friend.”
“I’m okay, sunshine,” Heidi tried to reassure her, more tears brimming over and slipping down her cheeks. She wasn’t okay, but she didn’t want Rose to worry.
“Mommy,” Rose repeated with a whine.
Freya took a deep breath, before pulling away and speaking to Heidi again. “Like I said, I’m trying really hard to be nice, but I don’t know how I could ever accept ‘no’ as an answer.” She paused. “Maybe if I explain to you my point of view, you’ll understand better.”
“I’m pretty sure I understand,” Heidi said almost inaudibly, wrapping her arms around herself as she averted her gaze. “You want to use me just like he did. I completely understand.”
“No, you really don’t,” Freya retorted, before sighing. “But I suppose if I try extending you a little trust, then maybe you can trust me in return.”
“What?” she asked, looking back up in confusion, not following at all.
Freya sighed again. “Trust, Heidi. I find it difficult to trust others. Even after all this time we’ve spent together, I still struggle to really let you and your sister into my life.” She paused. “Into our lives. When you’ve lived as long as I have – when you’ve been betrayed as much as I have – it’s difficult to keep offering trust, when people just stomp on it over and over again.”
Heidi scoffed. “You make it sound like you’re old.”
But much to her surprise, Freya nodded somberly. “I’m over three hundred years old, Heidi. So yeah, I am really old, even if I don’t look much older than you.”
Heidi’s eyes widened in shock, her knees feeling like they were going to buckle underneath her. She quickly reached out behind her to grab the counter again. Her head was swimming now.
Because she believed Freya.
In fact, a lot of things made sense now. Freya always talked and acted like she had seen more than her fair share of the world’s evils, not to mention all the comments she had made about significant events, like dying in a fire. Which meant, either Freya’s short life had been chocked-full of horrible trials, or else she had just been around that long…or both…
Plus, she was literally a vampire in every way possible, minus the traditional weaknesses. And she had already admitted it was almost impossible for her to die…
But then, did that mean…
Heidi’s gaze shifted to Rose, who was still silently standing at the entrance to the kitchen, remembering her comment the previous day about Sam’s family dying over a hundred years ago, before returning her focus to Freya.
“A-And Sam?” she stuttered, her body visibly trembling as she tried to wrap her mind around this insurmountable shift in her perception.
Freya hesitated for a moment, before simply nodding, leaving it at that.
❖ ❖ ❖
Sam Archer
January 15, 2735 – Current Day – Late Afternoon
I got up from my desk after having just read an email from Nick stating that he wanted to see me in his office before I left work. Being that he was also my boss made it difficult to determine if this was work-related or personal. I certainly shouldn’t have any performance issues, so I doubted it was work-related. At least, I assumed it wasn’t, but even I could admit I hadn’t been fully focused the last couple of days.
I stepped into his office and closed the door behind me. There was a large window that made him visible for everyone else to see, but he had the shades closed at the moment, so we were out of sight now.
He looked up from his computer screen immediately, even though he had just been in the middle of typing. He had a special metal keyboard that was much heavier and more durable than what everyone else used, since his strength could easily break plastic if he wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing.
“Oh, hey Sam,” he began in his nasally voice. “Go ahead and have a seat. I need to finish this message real quick.”
“Sure,” I agreed, doing as he asked. I went ahead and pulled out my phone, a little surprised that I had no new messages in the last couple of hours. Since Nick was momentarily busy, I decided to send both Lily and Freya quick ‘I love you’ messages, before pocketing my phone again. It would be easier to just send a group message, but I didn’t want my statement to seem insincere, or as if I was saying it habitually, instead opting to message them individually.
Nick took a deep breath then, and leaned back in his seat. “How’s it going?” he wondered, not getting directly to the point as usual.
I sighed, leaning back a little too while crossing my ankle over my knee. “Fine. How about you?”
“Great,” he admitted. “A little annoyed, but otherwise great.”
“Annoyed?” I repeated in confusion.
He nodded, sliding his chair over a little before leaning forward. “Yeah, it’s why I wanted to talk to you actually.”
Dammit Nick! Just get to the point already!
I took a deep breath, keeping my expression neutral. “And?” I prompted.
/>
“I won’t be in the office tomorrow,” he admitted. “Superhero stuff. In fact, I’ll be leaving the country tonight. But I’ll be back on Thursday.”
I gawked at him. “Since when did you become a superhero?” I asked in disbelief.
He leaned back in his seat again and began scratching his nose with a small smile. “Well, I’ve actually always been in the reserves with the Central Department of Superheroes. They don’t pay me a salary for it, but they do give out free medical insurance, so it’s worth it. I don’t bother with the local State Bureau of Superheroes at all, since they only call me in for the big stuff.”
“Wow, I didn’t even know that was a thing,” I admitted.
Nick nodded, before lowering his voice. “They’ve only called me in twice in the last ten years, largely because Blaze took care of all the situations where they would have needed my help. Not to mention, they paid him salary, so no point in calling me when they had him.”
I nodded slowly to indicate I understood, assuming they must pay Nick for the specific job, sort of like an independent consultant. I hadn’t realized that killing that bastard would have consequences for my friend, though he didn’t exactly seem upset about it. Just…annoyed, like he said.
“So…” I began hesitantly, not sure why he was telling me this.
“So, I was wondering if you could take over my responsibilities tomorrow is all. You’re certainly more than qualified for it.”
I grimaced. “Umm, maybe you could have Dave or someone else do it. He’s qualified too.”
Nick’s eyes widened in surprise. “You don’t want to? It would be a great chance to show my superiors you’re capable.”
I sighed heavily. “Nick, I don’t want to stand out. Like, I’m not trying to advance in this field. I’ve long since had multiple careers in my life. When I took this job, it wasn’t for experience or even for the money. Rather, I just wanted to do a job that I didn’t mind going to every day. And really, part of the reason why I picked this was to just keep my brain mentally engaged. Distracted. I don’t want extra responsibility or money. I just want to do my job and go home to my family at a reasonable hour.”
“Huh,” Nick replied, seeming genuinely surprised. “I suppose you aren’t hurting at all in the financial department. Although, it’s still kind of weird to think about it like that – to just get a job for the work, rather than worrying about earning more.”
“Yeah, well, you’re right. My perspective on a lot of things is different, as you can imagine.” My phone vibrated in my pocket, but I ignored it for now, assuming it was either Lily or Freya responding to my message.
Nick seemed pensive, before taking a deep breath. “Okay then. I’ll go ahead and check with Dave before he leaves. I’m sure he will be fine with it. When John was still around, he took on the extra responsibility a few times. Honestly, I was a little surprised when he didn’t apply for this position.” He smiled then, raising his voice a little. “Granted, I’m pretty sure I still would have gotten the job.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “You know he can probably hear you, right?” I asked seriously.
Nick laughed. “Yeah, that’s why I said it. We both poke fun at each other a lot. I can’t even count the number of times he’s called me shorty. Or the number of times I’ve called him fat.”
My brow furrowed, realizing I’d never paid much attention to how anyone else interacted with each other. Then again, calling someone short or fat, even playfully, wasn’t something you just yelled out in the middle of the workday, even if it was a joke.
My phone vibrated a second time.
I sighed, ready to go home for the day. Ready to spend time with my family. My job gave me a stable routine to follow, something I had desperately needed in my life at one point in time, but with Lily’s mortality hanging over my head, I really just wanted to quit and spend time with her all day.
Was there any reason why I shouldn’t? Other than to maintain the appearance of a normal life that is, so that my stalkers wouldn’t get suspicious.
I wasn’t sure.
Freya suspected that if we changed the status quo, that the shadow organization might focus in on me again. For example, if they were trying to make my life miserable, then me quitting my job and ‘living a happy life’ might cause them to do something big in an attempt to destroy it. Or, another possibility was that if I wasn’t working anymore then they might try to plant moles in my life outside of my job.
At the very least, I had to admit I was tired of encountering unforeseen consequences, which meant the option that felt safest was to just not change anything. No change usually meant no unexpected surprises. That truth didn’t hold up all the time, but making changes was a sure way to invite the unknown into a person’s life.
I cleared my throat. “Well, if that’s settled, then I think I’ll get ready to head home for the day.”
Nick held up his hand just as I began leaning forward to stand. “Oh, and you know Lexi Stockton, right?”
My eyes widened in surprise and I leaned back in my chair again. “Yeah, sort of,” I lied. Nick had seen Lexi in Freya’s car when we captured Blaze, but he had no idea we saw each other so regularly. “Why?”
Nick shrugged noncommittedly. “Well, I just saw her name on the list of people they were recruiting for this mission.” He grinned slightly. “We’ll be working pretty close together, so I wanted to know in advance if you had a problem with that.”
My brow furrowed again, knowing what he was implying. “Nick, just do your job. Lexi is like a walking Taser. I wouldn’t recommend messing with her. Like, at all.”
Nick’s grin only widened. “Oh, she’s a lot more than that,” he replied. “I hear she can actually use her electricity to see stuff, almost like she has a strange extra sight. They call it her Electromagnetic Specter. It’s like a ghost made of electromagnetic energy.”
My eyes widened in shock. “Really?” I exclaimed. Damn, and here I thought it was only Heidi whose full capabilities I didn’t know about. But apparently there were things about Lexi I didn’t know either.
He nodded confidently. “Yeah, she needs a form of conduction for it to work though, limiting its use. But they use her for reconnaissance a lot, like scoping out a building to locate their targets before the operation begins, with her using the internal wiring to send out her specter.” He laughed. “Never mind her lethal prowess and the EMPs she can create, as if those weren’t useful enough.” He sighed then, glancing at the wall as he stared off into space. “She’s quite the woman.”
“Nick!” I exclaimed. “Seriously? Zoey’s going to dump you if she finds out you’re trying to hook up with someone else.” Not that Lexi would ever consider him. At least, I didn’t think.
Nick surprisingly shook his head. “Nah, she was totally cool with me having a second girlfriend. She had no problem with me dating Camila.”
I just gawked at him, before it turned into a hard glare as I thought about all Lexi had been through with Blaze. My voice came out harsher than I intended. “Nick, I’m only going to say this once nicely, so listen up. Leave Lexi alone.” I paused then, when I realized I might be sounding a little too possessive. “At the very least, learn to take a hint. If you try hitting on her and she doesn’t seem interested, then drop it.”
Rather than being offended, Nick’s eyes were intense as he listened. His voice sounded extra nasally as he replied. “So then, you’re cool if I hit on her, right?”
I just glared at him, knowing he was only focusing on the last thing I said. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about Nick! No! Okay? No! Just do your job and keep it professional. Trust me when I say that Lexi is not interested in starting a relationship with anyone right now, so leave her alone.”
“Afraid she’ll like me?” Nick asked with another grin, as if he didn’t think I was serious.
I sighed, knowing I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him. And besides, Lexi could take care of herself. She didn’t n
eed me trying to fend off any pursuers. There was a good reason she was a top super, so yeah – she could take care of herself. I was being too overprotective.
I took another deep breath and stood. “I’m going home now,” I announced, not bothering to address his question.
Nick’s expression immediately dropped. “Oh, hey man, I was just kidding.”
I ignored him and turned to leave.
“Oh, so hey, got any plans tonight?” he wondered, seeming like he was just trying to end the conversation on a good note.
I sighed heavily again as I grabbed the door handle. “Not really. Just going to go home like usual. See you the day after tomorrow.” And with that, I opened the door and walked out.
I went ahead and began gathering my things, only to realize I had an urgent email from the Accounting department. I groaned as I read the contents, knowing this wasn’t an issue that could wait until tomorrow. Pulling up a handful of spreadsheets, I double-checked the numbers, discovering an error in one of the formulas, and then generated the extra report they needed after it was fixed.
While I worked, Nick must have already talked to Dave, because suddenly he was saying goodbye for the day as he left, commenting that he needed to get to the airport as soon as possible. I glanced at the clock to see that a good twenty minutes had passed from when I had intended to leave.
Ten minutes later and I was finally closing everything up for the day.
Once I had all my stuff, I made my way to the elevator. It was only then that I recalled I had a couple of messages to check.
I smiled as I began reading Freya’s message first.
‘Love you too! Have fun on your date tonight. Lily was super excited when she left. Maybe we can do something similar in a few days.’
My breathing halted.
My heart froze.
Lily and I didn’t have a date tonight.
At least, not that I knew of. And yet, Freya’s message made it seem like I had been the one who asked Lily out.
The Sacrificial Love of an Immortal Page 4
